A PEER who urged the retired to undertake community work or face losing their pensions has been slammed for coming up with 'national service for the over-60s'.

The Lord has suggested that pensioners should volunteer or face losing their pension []

Lord Bichard, a former benefits chief said that retired people should be forced to do community work such as caring for the 'very old' or cleaning the streets in order for them to receive their full pensions.

The former head of the Benefits Agency, who claimed that ideas were needed to meet the cost of an ageing society, caused outrage with his plan to stop older people "being a burden on the state".

He said: "It is quite possible, for example, to envisage a world where civil society is making a greater contribution to the care of the very old, and older people who are not very old could be making a useful contribution to civil society in that respect, if they were given some incentive or some recognition for doing so."

But the peer has been accused of coming up with an idea which amounts to 'national service for the over sixties.'

This amounts to little more than National Service for the over 60s and is absolutely outrageous.

NPC Secretary, Dot Gibson said: "This amounts to little more than National Service for the over 60s and is absolutely outrageous.

"Those who have paid their national insurance contributions for 30 or more years are entitled to receive their state pension and there should be no attempt to put further barriers in their way.

"We already have one of the lowest state pensions in Europe and one in five older people in Britain live below the poverty line. This suggestion from Lord Bichard would only make that situation worse."

Prof Martin Weale, a member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, said the proposal was "outside the normal range of what is discussed", but added it was an "interesting point".

Asked about his proposal after the meeting, Lord Bichard said it was a new idea but he intended to look into it further as part of his work for the committee.

He acknowledged it would be difficult for politicians to sell to the public, but added: "So was tuition fees."